Budget Friendly Wedding Cake – Guess what?!? There can be a solution to the expensive wedding cake. Don’t get me wrong…a wedding cake can be a great thing to spend money on. But, if you are having a small wedding or wedding where dessert is included in your tasting menu, then I’m going to tell you how you can have your cake and eat it too!

Why write this piece of advice about a budget friendly wedding cake?

I thought about writing this blog when I had a bride tell me about her wedding cake experience.  She had a very small wedding – her fiancé, and 2 friends. She wasn’t really on a budget – she was smart with her spending. She paid extra for a wedding arch, wanted dinner at a nice restaurant and to have a few days honeymooning in Cambria. I had asked her about her wedding cake and she laughed. Her friend then said, “We actually got it from Vons and you should see it.” I was a little unsure what to say next – was this a good you should see it or a not good you should see it.  Then, her friend went on to say…it looks amazing!  Ok…I could breathe!  

See, here’s how it went –  she wasn’t really too excited to spend $200 for a cake from the restaurant or even $85 from a local bakery.  I’d have to agree with her, since her wedding was only her fiancé and 2 guests.  I’d spend that money on something else for the wedding.  At Vons she spent $10 for a small cake!  

That made me think, why not let couples know about selecting a cake from the grocery store?  Could a store bought wedding cake be a budget friendly wedding cake that can be as beautiful and tasty as one from a private bakery? You have something to cut and something to throw in each other’s face, you also have something for photos.

Also, many restaurants for reception locations have dessert included in their meal prices. Because of this, many couples don’t want to serve their guests boring old wedding cake. At the last wedding I went to, they had salted caramel cookies and churros and chocolate sauce to dip. 

I did purchase my wedding cake from a private bakery. It was delicious and very pretty!  The sad part was that my photographer didn’t even get a great photo of the cake and monthly later the bakery went out of business because the owner retired. So, I can’t really remember what it looked like and I can’t even have a slice of cake from the bakery!  My wedding was a little larger than just 2 guests so it went with the budget to have a wedding cake.  

Cost of a store bought cake 

The cost of a wedding cake is around $6 per person from a private bakery. Even the smallest size 8 inch wedding cake, that feeds 24 people, costs around $150 for that cake.  The private bakeries sometimes require you have a cake stand or rent one from them to put your cake on.  The rentals are around $25 – $75 and many times they require you bring the rental back to them.

I went to our local Albertson’s and find out this information about their cakes:

Our local  Albertson’s charges $17 for an 8 inch cake. That’s less than $1 per slice. They also have a mini cake that is 6 inches for $7.

You could purchase a couple’s cake for the two of you and then add on a sheet cake for your guests.  At some restaurant we work with for receptions, their dinners come with a dessert. So, the cake would really only be for the two of you. 

They have also have 1/2 sheet and 1/4 sheet cakes than can be sliced and offered to guests. 

The flavors of the cake are vanilla, chocolate, marble and red velvet.  Frosting can be cream cheese, butter cream or chocolate whipped cream.  

Fillings like chocolate, lemon, and strawberry can be added to the cake also.

The bakery needs 24 hour notice to make your cake.  For some local bakeries 

Here’s the challenge

Fast forward a few months and a bride asked me, “Do you really need a wedding cake?” So, could I come up with a budget friendly wedding cake? My answer was yes, you need something to cut, but let me see if I can put something together for you.

Here’s the challenge – Can I make a store bought cake look like a wedding bakery cake?  

One couple took me up on this offer! And, I think the store bought cake looked pretty awesome!

I think decorations can make anything look better.  So, I took a simple cake and added a little pizazz to it.  

For the couple’s cake above, I bought the cake topper from Rawkrft , a store on Etsy and got a few extra flowers from the florist.  I loved the cake topper!! It was perfectly packaged in a wood case that fit the topper perfectly. The part that goes into the cake was long enough so you could see the topper and still have room for flowers. The cake topper is made in California, so it shipped really fast.  For the flowers, they were just a few springs that were extra from the florist and the greenery came from their table flowers. But, if you really wanted, you could take a few flowers and greenery off your bouquet.  I added the flowers on myself, which many times is easy enough for the bride or a friend or family member to do.

For this cake, the gold “plate” came with the cake…added extra bonus for a grocery store cake lol. 

I’m not sure anyone would have guested that this cake was $7 from Vons, had a $14 topper and free wedding flowers on it. It was a $21 wedding cake. I’d have to say it was a beautiful, budget friendly wedding cake.

The post Budget Friendly Wedding Cake appeared first on Elopements And Small Coastal California Weddings.